Editor's Pick: Good news for mobile subscribers

The Hindu Newsletter - Newsletter - subject [The Hindu Logo]( [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Youtube]( [Linkedin]( [Instagram]( Friday 01, January 2021 [alt_text]( Editor's Pick Good news for mobile subscribers [alt_text]( (The Editor's Pick is a new newsletter from The Hindu that provides a snapshot of the most important stories from today's edition of our newspaper, along with a note from our top editors on why we chose to give prominence to these stories.) Wishing all our readers a happy new year! 2021 begins on a happy note for mobile users, with [Reliance Jio announcing that it is dropping its 6ps-per-minute charge]( domestic voice calls to other networks. This is a result of the Indian telecommunication industry shifting from the Interconnect Usage Charges regime to the Bill-and-Keep regime from today. IUC charges are paid by the mobile service provider of a caller to that of the receiver for enabling the connection. India has been on the IUC regime since 2004, when the interconnection charges were 30ps-per-minute. The Bill-and-Keep regime will mean that there is net zero payment between networks. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India had planned to shift to the BAK regime by January 2020, but then postponed it to 2021. This forced Jio, which had been offering free voice calls, to start charging its users the 6ps-per-minute interconnection charge set by TRAI, from October 2019. When Jio became operational in 2016, the IUC regime was beneficial to the other service providers such as Vodafone and Airtel. This was because most calls from the new network with a smaller number of subscribers were coming to them, which meant they were receiving payments from Jio. However, as Jio grew to become the largest service provider cornering nearly half the market, the tables turned. Hence the end of IUC spells good news for these companies as well. Their subscribers could also get better call rates, if the companies decide to pass on the benefits. This possibility of overall benefits to mobile subscribers in India is what makes this story important. Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Head over to our newsletter subscription page to sign up for Editor's Pick and more. [Click here]( The Big Story [COVID-19 vaccine close to approval, hints regulator]( [alt_text]( From the Front Page [alt_text]( [Core sector output shrinks 2.6% in November]( [alt_text]( [CBSE Class X, XII exams from May 4 to June 10]( From the Opinion Pages [alt_text]( [Unmasked, reflections on the pandemic and life]( [alt_text]( [A leopard count with a missing benchmark number]( Today's Editorials [Ending the deadlock: On farmers,]( [A constant vigil: On the new cor]( You are receiving this email because you are a user of [thehindu.com]( If you do not wish to receive any such emails, [unsubscribe here.](mailto:rm-0b455pqhbf2f90kaup33rtbysa8hkmg@newsalert.thehindu.com?subject=Unsubscribe&body=You will be unsubscribed from our mailing list.) To ensure you continue to receive emails from The Hindu in your inbox, please add newsletters.th@newsalert.thehindu.com to your contact. If you can't see the mailer, please [click here.]( Group Sites [The Hindu]( | [இந்து தமிழ் திசை]( | [Business Line]( | [BL on Campus]( | [Sportstar]( | [Frontline]( | [The Hindu Centre]( | [Images]( | [roofandfloor]( | [Classifieds]( Copyright @ 2021 ,THG PUBLISHING PVT LTD. [About Us]( | [Contact Us]( | [Digital Subscription](